unattractive color

[cabo]

Hi people. I have a concern about the color of my beer. I can estimate the color pretty well from knowing the grains I use. But it seams that all of my lighter colored beers have a slight brownish gray tinge to them. The taste is usually what I'm after, but they just don't appear very attractive. I've been careful to keep oxygen out of the equation on both the hot and cold side. I've also tried shortening my boil. Am I the only one with this issue? My guess at this point is that it is either scorching/caramelization during the boil or possibly something in the water chemistry that I'm not smart enough analyze. Thoughts? Thanks.

Cabo

 

[gniv]

I'm seeing the same in my light-colored ales.

Some random things that I'm doing that might be relevant:
- Kolsch yeast
- lots of dry hopping
- whirlpooling, which means I don't chill fast
- a bit Pale Wheat malt in the recipe
- a bit of Acidulated malt

My (tap) water is hard.

 

[cabo]

Maybe we shouldn't serve them in clear glass then. I get it no matter what. Made a Saison with just Pilsen and a little wheat. No crystal. Same results.

 

[cabo]

Or possibly my copper wort chiller which I have been sanitizing in a mild bleach solution. Big no no I hear.

 

[VladOfTrub]

Some type of carry over.
Depending on the variety and type of malt gray protein mud can form. Certain types of malt produce tan/brown mud. European Pils malt is an example of malt that forms gray mud, wheat is another example. There is nothing wrong with the malt. Boiling isn't the issue. If protein mud does not form on top of the grain bed it ends up in the bottle. The brewing process needs to be improved or adjusted for the malt. Any type of carry over has a negative impact on stability, balance and quality of the final product.
Copper and Clorox are a no-no. Wort creates a shield over copper which protects the copper from oxidation and changing color, patina. Bleach removes the protective covering. Circulate boiling water through the cooler to clean it.
High side oxidation can occur during mashing, as well. Slopping hot brewing water into malt and stirring it up to kill the evil dough balls can inject enough air into the mash to cause oxidation when temps are above 140F, and the wort will darken during boiling. However, wort at times will darken during boiling and oxidation isn't the reason for it darkening. When using high quality malt and a fine brewing method, wort lightens up during the boil. The finer the brewing method, along with using high quality ingredients the higher in quality the final product will be.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Or possibly my copper wort chiller which I have been sanitizing in a mild bleach solution. Big no no I hear.

No need to bleach an IC. I just rinse it off to get any dust off and maybe a spritz of Starsan for good measure. Putting it in at flameout zaps everything anyway.

 

[chickypad]

How is your mash pH?